Believe Out Loud Episcopal Congregations

ROCHESTER, NY (February 12, 2010)—Integrity is delighted to be a partner in the transdenominational
Believe Out Loud campaign launching
February 14th across the country.We are
also proud to announce the Believe Out
Loud Episcopal Congregations initiative as a component of the Episcopalian
wing of the campaign.Believe Out Loud Episcopal Congregations
provides a much-needed national network for Episcopal parishes committed to welcoming
and affirming lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people as beloved
children of God.

Believe Out Loud is based in a simple truth: Privately believing LGBT persons should
have an equal share in our church and society is not enough; we must publicly
proclaim that belief.Believe Out Loud Episcopal Congregations
gives the parishes and missions of our denominations the means to do exactly
that.

Over 300 Episcopal
congregations already participate in welcoming parish programs through diocesan
LGBT ministries or Integrity. These congregations will automatically become Believe Out Loud Episcopal Congregations,
both widening their network and putting them in national search engines used by
seekers looking for inclusive congregations.

For other Episcopal parishes,
this is the chance to them to make explicit what has been implicit for many—that
the "Episcopal Church Welcomes You" sign outside their church door means
"We Really Mean It!" when it comes to LGBT people.

"I constantly receive
phone calls and emails from LGBT people looking for a safe place to
worship," said John Clinton Bradley, Integrity's Acting Executive
Director."By the end of the year I
hope that parishes and missions in every diocese of The Episcopal Church will
register themselves as "Believe Out Loud Episcopal Congregations."

Twenty-five years ago
Presiding Bishop Edmond Browning famously proclaimed that The Episcopal Church
would be a church with "no outcasts." The "Believe Out Loud
Episcopal Congregations" initiative will help us continue to claim that
proud history as we move forward together into God's future.

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